As I learned on a recent fishing trip, concentration while fishing is a must. I learned this the hard way. Here's the scenario. It's February, the ice on the water has recently melted, there are bluebird skies, no...

As I learned on a recent fishing trip, concentration while fishing is a must. I learned this the hard way. Here's the scenario. It's February, the ice on the water has recently melted, there are bluebird skies, no wind and the water temperature is in the low 40's and I was fishing from the bank of a favorite fishing hole of mine. The air temperatures were not much warmer. The fishing conditions were far from great to catch good numbers of fish.

This little pond I was fishing is in the middle of a small town community and is a very popular exercising place with the local folks that like to walk around the pond during most hours of the day…..It's a busy place!!!!

Anyway, I finally found a pattern that the fish wanted, a drop shot with a 4" cut-tail worm, and was getting a few bites, but the bites were few and far between. I kept hearing splashes in the water from the ducks, I kept seeing ripples in the water surface from the turtles popping up here and there, and there was always somebody watching me fish or just folks walking around the pond deep in conversation.

Every time I heard a duck splashing or some folks talking, or when I saw something out of the corner of my eye like the turtles or folks just watching me fish, I always diverted my attention to these other things going on around me and not the fishing I was supposed to be concentrating on. Occasionally I would put one of my hands in my pocket to try and regain some warmth into my fingers. During these moments of non-concentration was the time when I was getting most of my bites…..needless to say I was missing bites and fish. There is nothing worse than missing bites when the fishing is slow!!!!

On my next fishing trip to the same pond, I told myself to blank out all the surrounding distractions and concentrate 100% on what my lure/bait was doing. Not only did I feel the bites better, I was hooking and landing bass at a much higher percentage rate. I could also feel what the lure was actually doing when the fish bit, and I could copy the same action to catch more fish.

The moral of my story is to ALWAYS concentrate on what you are doing to catch more fish and whether you are fishing for fun or if money is on the line, the end result will be better.

Steve Bell
Bassinkorea